The Alaska Department of Law said that Seth Lookhart, a former dentist caught on camera pulling a patient’s teeth while standing on a hoverboard, had been given a 12-year prison term.
In January, Seth Lookhart, 35, was found guilty on 46 felony and misdemeanor counts, including medical aid fraud, a fraud conspiracy, engaging in unlicensed dental work, and reckless endangerment.
According to the announcement, Lookhart was given 20 years in prison with eight years suspended Monday by Anchorage Superior Court Judge Michael Wolverton. Therefore, Seth Lookhart will spend 12 years in prison. Also, he is not permitted to practice dentistry throughout his ten years on probation. Seth Lookhart read a prepared statement expressing regret for his behavior.
Looking back, he said, “I can’t pinpoint exactly when I started to veer off course,” CNN station KTUU quoted him as saying. “While I do not doubt that I was able to provide treatment and ease the suffering of many people in great need, I also know that I could have and should have kept more concentration and discipline while serving a patient base I came to love.
Additionally, he claimed to have changed and urged the court to take him back. “I know that if I were given the opportunity and the hope of a newfound lease on life, practicing dentistry and residing near those I love, I would be my best self and, in turn, best equipped to serve my family and the community,” Lookhart stated.
Judge Wolverton remarked during the sentencing, “I think what you did was so terrible, selfish, and crazy. I, therefore, forgive you, but you have a costly lesson to learn for all of that. Wolverton described the evidence against Seth Lookhart as “absolutely overwhelming” at his trial earlier this year, adding that it was “frequently corroborated, and often in excruciating detail, by Lookhart’s texts, images, and videos.”
The Hoverboard Incident Was Only One Aspect of The Overall Case
Seth Lookhart was accused of “unlawful dental conduct” in a 2017 complaint the state filed, claiming his patient care fell short of industry standards. Additionally, he submitted Medicaid claims for services that were either unneeded or ill-justified.
His case attracted much interest because of an incident detailed in the lawsuit, in which he pulled a tooth from a patient under anesthesia while riding a hoverboard, recorded the surgery, and distributed the video to several others.
The lawsuit, which relied on phone records, claimed that Seth Lookhart made light of the fact that doing oral surgery on a hoverboard was a “new standard of care” in at least one conversation. According to the judge, the hoverboard incident was not the most significant element of the case.
According to a statement from the Department of Law, Seth Lookhart was discovered to have administered anesthesia “thousands of times without training or consent, on patients outside his scope of training and experience, while stealing money from Medicaid and embezzling from his supervisors.”
In addition, patients in the January trial testified that they had awoken to find that Lookhart had worked on or removed the false tooth or that he had carried out a different procedure than what they had authorized, according to KTUU.
Eric Senta, an associate attorney general of the Department of Law, declared after the sentencing, “This is not an economic crime.” “The court is not imposing a $2 million theft sentence in this case. Lookhart causes harm to the weak and youngsters with disabilities. Kevin Fitzgerald, Lookhart’s attorney, argued that his client had already experienced repercussions for his acts.
Fitzgerald stated before the sentencing, “He’s lost a business, honor, your court is fully aware there are civil cases, there’s been terrible press, and he’s probably going to lose his license, which is again pending, but the state’s stance is to revoke it permanently.
Lookhart will begin serving his sentence on December 7, Senta told CNN. Later this week, Lookhart’s co-defendants, Shauna Cranford, his office manager, and Lookhart Dental LLC, will be sentenced, according to the statement.
According to a statement from the Department of Law, prosecutors want the court to order Lookhart to pay more than $2 million “to compensate for the cash Seth Lookhart fraudulently stole from the Alaska Medicaid system and embezzled.”
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